A general overview of Virtual Reality is given and its relevance to business in 2017. Applications of VR in recent years which offer new opportunities and value propositions are listed for each industry, with a case study analysed. Strategies for navigating Virtual Reality as a enterprise software or IT services company are assessed and the imperative for both to invest and experiment is explained.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of technologies with create immersive experiences through digital simulation. VR exists on a spectrum of digital experiences from reality to full digital immersion. Breakthroughs in computing performance, hardware economies of scale and 3D expertise have enabled a resurgence of VR's promise in recent years, and 2017 could mark the beginning of VR's hockey stick growth trajectory.

Companies across vertical industries are testing and implementing different applications of VR from pure branding exercises through to training and customer service optimization. The Healthcare, Defense, Manufacturing and Automotive sectors have plenty of historical experience with simulation technologies including VR. However, the current wave of software innovation, low price point for hardware and growing developer ecosystem bring radical new possibilities at a much lower cost.

There are many unexplored opportunities in VR across training, media and simulation. Each industry may find new solutions to their own unique challenges. Experimentation is key to finding the biggest opportunities for innovation. This dynamic may be led by content and media platform producers over single-product startups, given the efficiency benefits of reused assets and optimizations for realism in VR. Facebook and Google have already made bold strides towards this future with Social VR application experimentation and YouTube experience respectively.